Cmat, Pulp and PinkPantheress among Mercury prize shortlist light on new names

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A raft of familiar names fill this year’s list of Mercury prize nominations, with only two debuts among the 12 shortlisted albums. In Limerence, the first full-length by the Scottish folk songwriter Jacob Alon, and Hamstrings and Hurricanes, the first by Welsh jazz musician Joe Webb, will compete with the likes of Pulp’s comeback album More, folk godfather Martin Carthy’s Transform Me Then Into a Fish and the album with the UK’s biggest opening week of the year so far, People Watching by Sam Fender.

The list is split 50/50 between male and female or mixed acts. The solo female artists on the list tend to the iconoclastic: Irish pop star Cmat’s acclaimed third album Euro-Country, Leeds jazz musician Emma-Jean Thackray’s Weirdo, FKA twigs’ Eusexua and PinkPantheress’s mixtape Fancy That. As for bands, as well as Pulp, the Irish band Fontaines DC (Romance) and London four-piece Wolf Alice (The Clearing) appear.

There is just one rap album on the list, Afrikan Alien by Pa Salieu. As ever, the Mercury seems unafraid of its reputation for nominating just one “token” jazz album, in Webb’s Hamstrings and Hurricanes. Metal, as usual, does not feature.

Dr Jo Twist, CEO of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the body behind the awards, told the Guardian that she was delighted by the breadth of albums nominated. “It’s a real celebration of such an eclectic mix of achievements across all kinds of genres, and it’s been a really competitive year.”

There are several repeat nominations: Cmat was previously recognised for her second album, 2023’s Crazymad, for Me; FKA twigs for her 2014 debut LP1; Fontaines DC for their 2019 debut Dogrel; Sam Fender for his second album, 2021’s Seventeen Going Under.

Both Wolf Alice and Pulp have three prior nominations and one win apiece under their respective belts: Pulp were nominated for 1994’s His ’n’ Hers (controversially losing to M People), won in 1996 for Different Class, and were nominated again in 1998 for This Is Hardcore. Wolf Alice were nominated for their 2015 debut My Love Is Cool, won in 2018 for Visions of a Life, and were nominated again in 2021 for Blue Weekend. They are now four-time nominees, only bested by Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys, with five apiece.

Any album released by a British or Irish act between 14 July 2024 and 29 August 2025 was eligible for consideration. Among the British and Irish artists who may feel they missed out on a nod are Nilüfer Yanya, the Cure, Laura Marling, Jamie xx, Los Campesinos!, Jasmine.4. T, Karl Silva, Lambrini Girls, Mogwai, Rose Gray, These New Puritans, Architects, Maria Somerville, Sprints, NewDad, Bryan Ferry and Amelia Barratt, Central Cee, Fimiguerrero, Len and Lancey Foux, John Glacier, Yazz Ahmed, Alabaster DePlume, Black Country, New Road, Sherelle, Self Esteem, Shanti Celeste, Loyle Carner, Kae Tempest, Kokoroko, Jim Legxacy, For Those I Love and Blood Orange.

The prize defines itself as recognising “the best new British and Irish music, celebrating artistic achievement across an eclectic range of contemporary music genres”.

Last year, it failed to find a sponsor and the live event – which usually features performances from all of the nominees – was a stripped-back affair, with the nominees watching VTs of each other performing at the BBC. Twist called it a “very successful year”, albeit artists said they missed the live performance aspect of the ceremony. “One of the unique things is having your peers listening and critiquing your performance, talking about your bodies of work, and it was incredible to see those conversations happening in such an intimate environment last year.”

This year sees the ceremony move from London to Newcastle – following in the footsteps of the Mobo awards earlier this year – marking a new partnership with Newcastle city council and the North East combined authority. It will take place at Newcastle’s Utilita arena on 16 October, a ticketed event featuring performances from many of the shortlisted artists. Former host Lauren Laverne, a Sunderland native, will return to present.

“The move to Newcastle is very exciting for us,” said Twist. “It’s a city that has an amazing musical heritage and musical culture. What makes British music so brilliant is its diversity. It’s from all over the country but opportunity isn’t necessarily [distributed] all over the country.”

In the week running up to the ceremony, a new Mercury Fringe event, in association with local music development organisation Generator, will showcase talent from the north east with live gigs curated alongside local promoters, as well as providing workshops, roundtables and what organisers have billed as a “major industry conference”, with details to be revealed soon.

When the Mobo awards took place in Newcastle in February, it delivered an estimated £1.3m into the local economy, and Sam Fender’s three-night run of homecoming concerts at the city’s St James’ Park added a £16.5m boost, local business groups claimed. “This is what opportunity looks like when you’re leaving a legacy, you’re investing and you’re getting people excited about opportunities across the music industry that they might not have access to ordinarily,” said Twist.

Whether the prize would maintain a permanent home in the city is “something we will look at”, she said. “If there are other cities who are keen to follow this blueprint, which the Mobos successfully laid down, we’d love to have those conversations again. This shortlist shows the breadth of talent from across the country and all of our nations.”

The judges for this year’s prize are broadcaster and writer Danielle Perry, musician Jamie Cullum, broadcaster and DJ Jamz Supernova, BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music head of music Jeff Smith – also the chair of the team – music programming consultant Lea Stonhill, broadcaster Mistajam, Kerrang! creative director and Mojo contributing editor Phil Alexander, BBC Radio 1 DJ Sian Eleri, the Times music critic Will Hodgkinson and music writer Sophie Williams.

Last year’s winners were Leeds band English Teacher, the first winners from outside of London since Scottish hip-hop trio Young Fathers a decade prior, who beat the likes of Charli xcx and Beth Gibbons to the prize.